Video Games I've Played

The game represents an episodic revolution from the previous iteration, and while the scope and cast broadens, the same wonderful texture that made the first a masterpiece are all still here: fantastic storytelling, wonderful voice acting, compelling combat, and a hell of a lot of Mimir's stories while traversing (this time, you get dog sleds and weird camel things in addition to row boats). If there are any complaints, it's that Mimir actually wears thin after a while, and the sections where you pass his disembodied head off to another character are certainly welcome reprieves. But this game, like the previous, represents the pinnacle of the genre of action adventure and video games in general, and I can't wait to slay the next pantheon when a sequel comes out.

Separately, management games and isometric roguelites are amongst my favorite games. Cult of the Lamb combines both, and while the base management or roguelite dungeon crawler aren't best in class, they work together for an addictive loop. I found myself far more content than I'd have thought cleaning up villager shits to add to my farm to harvest better vegetables to feed my villagers so I could turn their praise into a competitive advantage in the dungeons. That said, the game suffers from repetition towards the end, and the hexagonal tile placement in your base means you can't really neatly align anything, really undermining the enjoyment of building a base. There's no real need to optimize, especially after everything is unlocked, and the game is a bit too easy on standard difficulty setting, although some weapons absolutely ruin runs (daggers, I'm looking at you).

Lord of the Rings is one of my favorite fantasy IPs -- I regularly re-read the books and watch the movies. This game is awash in lore, and the amount of effort invested in individualizing each orc is impressive. The game is your typical open-world fair, the map littered with collectibles. The game approaches side quests with quality over quantity, which is welcome. And it certainly is fun traipsing all over Middle Earth. While I mostly enjoyed my time, the story was a bit weak, and I would've paid a years supply of lembas bread for a skip dialogue option for orc introductions.

The isometric action-adventure game with unlockable traversal tools is a full genre, going back all the way to **at least** _A Link to The Past_ (which, depending on the day of the week, is my favorite SNES game). Death's Door is another entry in the field, and it's distinguished by a crystal-clear and compelling aesthetic. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but you don't have to with this genre. This game doesn't try and do too much -- there aren't a billion collectibles or a sprawling world map. It is uniquely itself, tight in its execution, and the ride lasts a perfect 12 or so hours.

I think I've finally got my fill of Xenoblade games. Played the first two and really enjoyed them, but even the best combat and world-building can't overcome sappy writing (the power of friendship is sharper than any sword!) and endlessly repeated catchphrases (hear that Noah, Lanz wants something a bit meatier!). The class system had potential, but by the end I wasn't even changing classes after hitting level caps because it didn't seem to matter. And speaking of not mattering, money and equipment in this game is useless. I didn't buy anything, and breezed through the game (except for the final boss, which takes over an hour to beat and for some inexplicable reason contains unskippable cutscenes so if you are misfortunate enough to wipe you need to start all over, denuding the ending of any dramatic tension or pace).